This is a wine blog. A wine blog written by a lawyer. Because lawyers drink wine.

Giveaway

Because that’s what you do at Christmas, you give gifts to those you love! And I love all of you! This Christmas I’ve partnered with my friends at Sauska Wines (Sh-au-shka) to bring you an extra special Holiday treat.

Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum, Wine of Kings, King of Wines

First of all, Hungarian wine is where it’s at. Their unique indigenous grapes make some seriously amazing wine[1]. And their Tokaji Aszú[2] wine specifically is OUT. OF. THIS. WORLD. So that’s why I want you to try some.

You have until Monday, December 26, 2016 at noon EST. A winner will be picked at random to receive a bottle of their delicious 2003 Tokaji Aszú, 6 puttonyos[3]. This wine is literally pure liquid gold. Notes of thick apricot and honey with a hint of vanilla. The desert wine to top all dessert wines. You may not want to share, although sharing is caring, and ‘tis the season.

Legend has it that Tokaj wine debuted on the world stage when Francis II Rákóczi, prince of Transylvania, gifted King Louis XIV of France with numerous bottles of wine from his Tokaj estate in 1703. When Tokaji wine was served at Versaille for the first time, King Louis XIV declared it “Vinum Regum, Rex Vinorum” or “Wine of Kings, King of Wines”.

Lawyer Footnotes[1] Like Kékfrankos, Furmint and Hárslevelű. More on those later, promise.[2] Pronounced Toe-kai Ah-zoo. Still figuring this language out myself.[3]Puttonyos is the unit given to indicate the level of sweetness of Tokaji wine. It was traditionally measured by the number of hods added to a barrel of wine. A hod is an antique grape picking bucket. Puttonyos are now measured in grams of residual sugar.

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Imagine it’s a Tuesday morning. Imagine there’s lots of snow on the ground and you’re not looking forward to snow blowing your driveway watching Husband snow blow your driveway. It starts out as just another day, but then you open your email and a smile spreads over your face.

Well, that’s what happened to me yesterday when I found out I was a finalist in the 2016 Millesima Blog Awards! What a great way to start the day! Millesima is an indubitable leader in the sale of fine wine futures and grand cru wines with a home base in Europe and a flagship store in NYC. This year they’ve partnered with Bernard Magrez[1] to host their third annual blog awards, recognizing wine bloggers from Europe and America.

The winner from each category will be flown to Bordeaux and put up at the decadent Château Fombrauge in St. Emillion, one of Magrez’ four grand cru[2] classé properties. While there, the winners will be treated to a sampling of each of his estate’s 2015 barrels[3] during en primeur week when the world gets its first taste of the 2015 vintage while still resting in the barrel[4].

Finalists were chosen by Bordeaux wine experts, Xavier Sanchez and Nicolas de Rouyn. Somehow I’ve made it to the finalists round, but now I need YOUR help! The winners will be chosen by popular vote, and that’s why I need you (and all your friends) to vote for my entry. (Make sure you vote for Wine Esquire!)

If I’m selected and make my way to Bordeaux, I can promise you that I’ll be bringing home copious amounts of wine[5], and I’ll be giving away a bottle to one of my voters! Drop me an email at wineesquire@gmail.com to tell me you voted for Wine Esquire and you’ll be entered to win! You’ll also be given a discount code to purchase fine wine from Millesima online.

This is so exciting! I think I’m gonna have to brush up on my French! Merci et bonne journée![6]

Lawyer Footnotes[1] One of wine’s most well-respected and dignified wine magnates in the world. He’s been on my radar for years.[2]Grand Cru means great growth and refers to a highly prized wine designation which delineates vineyards with excellent wine growing reputations. Magrez is the only one who owns four such vineyards.[3] “Any offering from Bernard Magrez” has been on my wine bucket list since day one, so having the chance to actually VISIT his four properties is surreal.[4]En primeur translates to “premiering” and is more popularly known as “wine futures.” It is a way for distributors and investors to get the good stuff for a good price since wine futures typically debut at the lowest price and go up from there. It has been increasingly used as a wine investment vehicle. Maybe I’ll get in on the investment scheme and buy some while I’m there…[5] Who needs to bring clothes? What I really need is an empty suitcase. Or maybe one of these.[6] That means “Thank you and have a good day!”

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You guys! It’s happening again! Its LastBottle Wine Marathon time! Our friends at LastBottle tell us that this one is going to be special. For starters, there’s a Star Wars theme, in honor of this week’s release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so it’s bound to be out of this galaxy.[1] We’ve also got some stellar juice including bottles from Sine Qua Non, Colgin, and Aubert.

Tomorrow at 9 a.m. PST (or Noon, WineEsquire time) the marathon will begin. A 2-day period of crazy non-stop wine buying. No emails, no reminders. When the wine is gone, it’s gone, and it’s onto the next. You gotta get it in your cart and check out quick lest it disappears right before your eyes. Best of all is the free shipping[2]! My adrenaline is pumping just thinking about it! Last time I walked away with more than a case of intergalactic bottles. I’ve made my way through many of them, and all have been stellar.

By participating in the WineEsquire contest you’ll be entered to win one of the magical wine bottles that I purchase during the marathon madness! To enter all you have to do is sign up for Last Bottle using this link and email me confirmation that you signed up. You’ll get $5.00 toward your first purchase as an added bonus! It wouldn’t be a bad idea sign up for blog updates from Wine Esquire as well! I’ll be Instagraming and Live Tweeting as we go. Tag me throughout and let me know what bottles you snagged. We’re gonna have a lot of fun.

Do you think The Firm will notice if I have my Do Not Disturb button on for the next 24 hours? #multitasking

Note: If you’ve already signed up for LastBottle through WineEsquire, you can enter the contest by sharing this blog post on Facebook or Twitter and tagging @WineEsquire. Just send me an email and let me know that’s what you’re doing.

Questions? Comments? Hit me up on the Gmail, I promise I’ll try to respond, although I may be very busy buying wine. #winoproblems

Cheers!

Lawyer Footnotes[1] Haha. That was so bad it was funny.[2] As long as you live in the lower 48.

Sign up and Email confirmation must be received by 11:59 p.m. ET on December 17, 2015. Once you sign up, you’ll be entered to win one of the bottles I buy today. Contest open to U.S. shipping addresses only, subject to applicable shipping laws #lawyerlife.

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In honor of Law Day 2015[1],Wine Esquire has partnered with Approach The Bench to give away two legal wine stoppers, the Judge of Reason and Blind Justice[2]. With law school graduations around the corner, and news of bar exam results spreading across the country, this is the perfect gift for your favorite soon to be legal advocate. Or give it to your over-worked hard-working lawyer as a thank you for being so dedicated to you and your legal needs.